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A 20-year-old man from Kentucky died Monday evening after falling roughly 177 feet from the top of South Falls at Silver Falls State Park in Oregon.
Oregon State Police said Zachary Nicholas Mertens of Burlington, Kentucky, had entered a closed area at the waterfall’s summit to pose for photos when he slipped and plunged into the water below. Authorities responded around 6:36 p.m. after receiving reports of the fall.
A park visitor attempted CPR on Mertens before emergency crews arrived, according to the Statesman Journal. The Marion County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue team later oversaw the recovery of his body.
Chris Gilliand, a former park manager and current regional manager, described the incident as “a pretty horrific accident” and “a very tough situation.” The county medical examiner released Mertens’ body to the search and rescue team.
Silver Falls State Park is famous for its Trail of Ten Falls, which winds through a rocky canyon past a series of waterfalls. South Falls allows visitors to walk behind the 177-foot curtain of water.
In August 2020, a teenager from Portland, Jordan Frate, intentionally jumped from the top of South Falls into the pool below. Two bystanders pulled him from the water unconscious, and he was airlifted to a hospital with serious injuries before being treated and released.
